Philippine taekwondo pursues the Olympic dream
Image copyright Bob Guerrero.
On a warm summer afternoon, the unairconditioned Ninoy Aquino Stadium isheaving with activity. Dozens of boys and girls are squaring off on jigsaw-puzzle rubber mats on the court, their cheeks pinched by full headgear and thick pads encircling their torsos.
The kids are a blur of axe kicks and flying fists, with coaches and parents intently watching nearby. Outside, vendors are hawking taekwondo gear, everything from crisp white “doboks,” (known as “gi” in other martial arts), to punching paddles. Business is brisk.
It’s the Carlos Palanca Jr. Taekwondo championships, sponsored by Smart. The many members of the Philippine national training contingent are all here to hone their skills, and beat down a path that could one day lead them to Olympic glory.
Marco Aventajado, the Philippine Taekwondo Association’s marketing director, thinks it’s not just another Filipino sports pipe dream.
Image copyright Bob Guerrero
According to him there are five thousand registered taekwondo chapters all over the Philippines, with an astonishing 500,000 kids and adults punching and kicking their way towards a better understanding of this ancient Korean martial arts discipline. Aventajado says there are three to four taekwondo competitions ongoing every week in the Philippines, including a full slate of national tournaments and qualifiers.
ALSO READ: Hoops guru says Pinoys among his favorite trainees.
Marco says that the Philippines is currently ranked seventh in the world in the national rankings of the World Taekwondo Federation. We have won eleven medals in the world taekwondo championship since 1973, five silvers and three bronzes.
The Philippines is a taekwondo nation even though most of us don’t know it.
There certainly is a pantheon of Pinoy taekwondo greats, everyone from Monsour Del Rosario, Donnie Geisler, Bea Lucero, Japoy Lizardo and serial SEA Games gold medalist Roberto Cruz, who is spotted in the arena coaching.
In the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, Antoinette Rivero stumbled in the final hurdle below the gold medal round, falling to a Greek gal in the semis. In case you are wondering, no, it was not a hometown decision but a fair loss. Aventajado’s father Robert, who has led the PTA since the ‘80s, was in the stadium and was pretty much the only one cheering on the Filipina.
The Carlos Palanca Jr. tournament in Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.
(These days taekwondo is scored electronically, with sensors on the armor and feet indicating if a point has been scored.)
“We just haven’t been getting breaks,” laments Aventajado, about close calls in successive Olympics. In 2004 Geisler suffered an injured ankle that scuppered his medal hopes.
But there is no reason to give up. Like boxing, taekwondo is a weight class sport that minimizes the disadvantage in height and size that bedevils us in other athletic pursuits. Weight classes in taekwondo are similar to those in boxing.
ALSO READ: FIFA finalizes four-man list for presidency.
Taekwondo is also a part of the NCAA and UAAP calendars, and corporate sponsorship from Smart has been steady. Numerous secondary schools all over the nation also support the game.
The PTA also takes care of of the instructional side, with a yearly coaches convention that this year drew hundreds of coaches from all over the archipelago.
Another reason for taekwondo’s health has been the rare lack of internecine squabbling in the sport. Korean coach Hong Sung Chon has been in the Philippines since 1972 and is considered to be the godfather of the sport in the Philippines. The 67-year old is a highly respected unifying factor and now serves as the PTA vice-president.
Aventajado says there have only been two presidents of the PTA, his father and Carlos Palanca Jr. before him, the man who the tournament is named after. Aventajado also says a succession plan is underway to ensure the continued growth of the sport.
Taekwondo, however, isn’t on TV much, unlike mixed martial arts. MMA has a glamor and glitz that taekwondo at the moment can only hope to achieve. And there is actually an edict from the taekwondo powers-that-be in the Philippines that taekwondo-jins are forbidden from branching out into MMA, says Aventajado.
But that doesn’t mean that the sport isn’t doing its part to thrust itself into the public consciousness. Later in the year, around September, a Philippine Taekwondo League pitting schools against one another is planned to take place in SM malls. A few months before that the national team players will do battle in the SEA Games in Singapore, where they are expected to bring in the customary healthy medal haul. In the 2013 SEA Games in Indonesia the Philippines came home with sixteen medals, second only to Thailand, including four golds. In last years Asian Games, Pinoys took home four bronzes.
Then in 2016, the Rio Olympic Games. Another chance to make history for the Philippines and finally end our medal drought. In taekwondo, we may have more than just a fighting chance.
Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.
Image copyright Bob Guerrero.
